A Birthday
by AhmadX
Summary: Naruto has high hopes for his 7th birthday, which is special to him. But little does he know that on this day everything is going to change for him. Starting the day with a childish wish for a few gifts, Naruto gets something he will never ever forget. (Updated)
1. Chapter 1

A Birthday

Naruto woke up in his apartment, let out a deep yawn, looked out the window to see the sunshine and put on one of his huge signature smiles,

"Its Today!", he exclaimed in excitement, for it was 10th of October and the boy had turned 7 after waiting quite a long time. Why had he waited? Because he never knew what importance such a day had; he had no one to tell him. It was only by watching other people, some television screens and reading some picture books that he'd come to know, just a few months back, what this day was and what joy it brings; for on this day a person officially became one whole year older, though for him he was full 7 years older since he'd never celebrated one of these days before. Although he was slightly sad that he'd missed 6 of these without even knowing, but he had decided it way back when he discovered the day that he would emblazon it in such a way that all past 6 missed times would be satisfied.

For Yes, It Was His BIRTHDAY!

He recalled how he had found out about the date of his birthday not too long ago as well, right after he discovered birthdays in general in fact. After no one at the Hokage Mansion would tell him and the Old man Hokage being too busy, he had asked the only man he had some trust in; Old Man Ichiraku, who knew as well as anyone the infamous 10th of October Date when a demon fox was sealed inside this newborn Naruto. Ichiraku told the boy of the date and when he inquired of him where he'd found that out, he brushed aside the question saying all that mattered was that he know the when and to prevent him from asking any more, he even promised to get him a present when the day came. Remembering this little memory made the start of his birthday all the more brighter.

He got out of his bed, rushed to the bathroom and in honor of the day, brushed his teeth, took a bath, shampooed his hair, applied some perfume and even clipped his nails. "I've been saving to do all this stuff on my birthday so I'd be clean and nice looking for it…..even though it has been a week since that. I wonder if I shudda have a bath in between then and now, hmm….Nah!", he talked to himself while getting clean. Then he looked at himself in the mirror and smiled even wider, approving himself.

Finally he got out and decided to put on some clean clothes. So he went to his closet and browsed his fine collection of different clothes…..which were all jump-suits….which were all orange…which were all dirty too….."AAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHH!", he cried, "How could I forget to have atleast one set of clean clothes to wear for my birthday!". But then a glimmer caught the corner of his eye and he pushed aside all the clothes to reveal a shining jewel sitting in the corner of his closet. It shined so bright that he had to shut his eyes for a couple of seconds. Then as his eyes finally adjusted to the shine, he saw that the jewel had been replaced by a clean orange jump-suit. "Yes!" He exclaimed in happiness, "I knew there was atleast one clean left, and its so shiny too! Now I won't have to wash my clothes for atleast a few weeks." He said as if this all was an achievement. But then again, to Naruto, stuff like this always was.

He put it on, and then took one last look at himself in the mirror, nodded in agreement to his reflection and said approvingly, "Now I'm ready to head out and get those present thingys from all the people I know. This is gonna be so awesome!" The young boy was so excited that he even forgot to have his instant noodle breakfast.

As he headed out and locked the door behind him, he was thinking to himself of all the presents treats he would make people get him but little did he know, that this day was going to be anything but awesome for him. For this day, for the first time in his 7 year old life, he was going to witness the true horrors of man….

* * *

A gentle breeze was blowing across the village, Naruto closed his eyes and tilted his head upwards to feel it and the warm sunlight streaming down from the sky.

_Its such an awesome day._ He thought,_ It hasn't been this good for a long time, must be a gift from God for my birthday._ And thinking that, he smiled.

He continued to walk down the road, which was empty. He thought to himself, _How come no ones around? Its late enough in the morning for everyone to be up. _But then he pushed that fruitless thought aside and started to count the names of people on his fingers whom he'd soon be forcing to get him presents.

"So there's Old Man Hokage, and if I can get him to give me something cool, I'll also force all his staff at the Hokage Mansion to get me something too. Hehehehe…", He said to himself, as a sly smile crept across his face, and then he continued, "Ok then there's good ol' Ichiraku and his family, they've always been good to me even when most of the other people of the village always look at me badly. I'll get ol' Ichiraku to give me a 'full day for eat-as-much-Ramen-as-you-want' deal, and then there's the present he promised me, and then I'll get Ayame nee-chan to give me something nice too". He turned around a corner, and the streets were still empty, but not focusing on that, he thought of where to go first, "I haven't had breakfast, so I guess I'll go over to Ichiraku and get my deal present as the first gift of the day". Having decided that, he increased his speed, quickly turning it into a full paced run, as he made his way to the centre of the village—Where Ichiraku's Ramen shop was.

When he got there, he saw that there was a large number of people gathered in the street and all holding some candles and banners, and all were wearing black. Not understanding what they were doing, he just decided to look for the shop. As his eyes fell upon his destination, he saw it was closed, "Aww man!", He practically shouted," Why is it closed at this time!? Its always open. I wonder if ol' man is sick or something….."

Suddenly, there was a sound.

.

It was like a rock hit something soft close by and was attempting to crack it. Then there it was again.

CRACK. CRACK. CRACK.

Then he felt something streaming down his face, it was warm and red….Blood! He touched his head, he was bleeding! He turned around to see the whole procession of villagers now staring at the little boy, their faces read with hatred and anger. All of them were holding rocks in their hands, and they were the ones throwing them at him, although only 3 managed to hit him so far. But now he realized what was going on, they were trying to hit him, beat him for some reason, and the pain of the rocks hitting his skull finally set in as he clutched his head and sat right there in agony. Few drops of tears starting to trickle down his face.

"DEMON! ", Suddenly a voice came from the crowd, they'd all been shouting for a while but it was only now that Naruto began to hear what they were saying, "MURDERER!", "DEVIL CHILD!" , "GO AWAY!", "LEAVE US IN PEACE!", "YOU TOOK EVERYTHING FROM US!", "WE HATE YOU!", they were saying so many things to him, and all the while doing so they continued to throw rocks at him. But he didn't understand anything.

_Why are they doing this? What did I do? _He thought, as he finally gathered the courage to say something, "Im just here to go to Ichiraku's for my birthday present, please don't beat me. I didn't do anything!", he said as the few tear drops from his eyes turned into a full stream of river, "Im a good boy! Look I even took a bath today and brushed my teeth and changed my clothes. Why are you doing this to me!?"

"Why!? Why are we doing this to you!?" A young man in his mid twenties shouted in reply to Naruto's cry, "How dare you even say that! You devil! You dare to celebrate a birthday, be happy and go around asking for presents on this day! You mock us! You mock our families! You mock our deceased! The very people you snatched away from us! On this very day, all those years ago!". Naruto barely made out what he said over the noise of people, but he didn't understand a word of it.

_Is it wrong to celebrate a birthday? Or ask for presents?_ He thought, _But all those commercials and books and other families were doing it, then why are they all being so mean to me?_! As he was thinking this, the same young man climbed above a bench and addressed to all the people of the procession at the top of his lungs.

"My fellow villagers! This demon child is defiling our procession be being here and mocking us with his words and actions. We only wish to honor our dead, that the demon took from us 7 years ago. That is why we hold these candles, and wear these clothes! We will not let anyone, and least of all this devil brat to ruin our ritual for our families!"The whole procession roared at his little speech and their emotions were set ablaze.

They all shouted, "LETS KILL HIM!" ,"LETS THROW HIM OUT!, "HE DOESN'T BELONG WITH US" , "HE TOOK SO MUCH FROM US", "HE DOESN'T DESERVE TO LIVE AFTER HAVING THE GUTS TO SHOW UP HERE AND ASK FOR PRESENTS!" All the people became even more emotional, and even those who hadn't noticed the boy started shouting and throwing things at him. And now the whole gathered village was united against a small boy, bent on beating him up for defiling their procession, even if it meant killing him.

Naruto was crying, harder than he ever had, harder than when he was told that his parents had died long ago, harder than when he could make no friends, harder than when people sent cold hateful looks his way and told their kids to stay away from him. This was the cry of a boy not only afraid, but also hurt badly from within and without. He was crying out continuously, "I don't understand! Im a good boy! Please don't beat me! Im sorry!" But they paid no heed to his desperate words. Finally instinctively his body gathered the energy to stand up and run in the other direction.

He ran and ran harder, crying all the while and glancing over his shoulder to see some people chasing him and still throwing hard stuff at him. He used every bit of energy his small body had to get away from them, he kept on running, not even breathing properly. His muscles were aching, his body was tense, and he was still bleeding but he kept on running. Finally the village gates came into view and he ran past them into the forest.

The mob of people stopped at the gates and shouted, "DON'T COME BACK EVER!" , "IF YOU DO WE'LL KILL YOU FOR SURE, YOU DEVIL!" Then they decided to all head back to their procession to honor their dead who had died all those years ago while protecting their village from the rampage of a demon nine tailed fox, which was now trapped in the body of the boy they successfully chased away from the village.

Naruto kept on running, even when no one was chasing him, even if his face was covered with a mixture of tears and blood, even if his whole body was crying with pain all over. He just couldn't stop running. Such was the fear they had instilled in him. Such was the fear of hateful people. Such was the fear—of man.

He kept on running, but little did he know that there was a shadow watching him from a tree branch at some distance…..

TO BE CONTINUED


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

Sandaime Hokage, The legendary ninja, known throughout the ninja world as one of the strongest and most resilient that ever lived, sat in his office behind his desk at the Hokage Mansion's administration block. Wearing his usual Red Hokage robes, he was going over his routine daily tasks of paper work, mission assignments, job requests and all other relevant stuff needed to co-ordinate a village.

However today, he was sad. Not because the work was so much or because he was alone in the office, but actually because of what day it was. For It was 10th of October, the day a great hero had sacrificed his life for the sake of his village and in doing so, had entrusted to it a new life and a great gift—a new power sealed in a new born hero in the form of a young baby. The very baby the villagers had come to detest because of that power within him, when he had no fault or had done nothing to get that power. The baby boy would never even know why they detested him.

_Oh Minato!, _He thought to himself, _If only they understood your will. If only they would open their hearts to understand that you had given them so much. New lives, New power, all at the cost of you and your wife's life, your own child's entire future!It was Only because of you, that we got the power to balance the distribution of military strength amongst the ninja world, but these people just won't accept it. I know you wanted the village to see your son as a hero, whose birth saved them all, and you entrusted me with the task to make them understand. I passed the law that anyone who abuses Naruto, or tells him of these secrets would be sentenced to death, but I'm afraid that this hasn't stopped them from treating him as a complete stranger or sending him hateful looks, and on this day all of these feelings of these villagers become exaggerated. I have lost my beloved as well, but I don't go about blaming it on a young child…. Well….. at least the villagers don't physically hurt him._

He was in these deep thoughts, when a young ANBU operative wearing his mask and having spiky silver hair burst in through the office door. The Hokage, having accumulated years of mental training and experience, looked up calmly without startling and softly spoke to the ninja, "What is it Kakashi?" He asked him, identifying him by his silver hair.

"The Procession for the Martyred…The villagers…!" He was almost shouting and was out of breath.

"Calm down young man," ordered the village leader, "You're a fully fledged ANBU captain. Come now, take a deep breath and tell me what happened?"

"My apologies Lord Hokage," Kakashi said, starting to regain his calm composure having been scolded by the Hokage, "I just returned from my 33 mission-streak assignment and what I saw was more heartrending than any spectacle I'd ever seen in my life. I never knew that my very own fellow villagers could ever do something like this."

The Hokage raised an eye-brow, this was certainly serious, and not something he was expecting, "Go on lad….."

"Naruto, the boy, they…the whole village procession, they were throwing rocks at him, abusing him, shouting at him." He reported, "I was looking from quite a distance and those 33 missions in one go had drained all of my chakra and stamina so I couldn't go to stop anything."

"What!?" The up till now calm Hokage exclaimed with shock, "What of the boy!?"

"He managed to run away from there, the villagers chased him away through the Village gate."

"Are they still chasing him?"

"No Lord Hokage, they returned to the procession, but I can almost guarantee that they will go after him soon. He is just a kid, and they are a whole population of crazy grownups, many of whom are hunters. They certainly looked as if they wanted to kill him"

_This is bad _thought the Hokage _Its as if the devil heard my thinking that the villagers haven't hurt Naruto physically, and decided to crush even that little piece of Minato's expectation of me. Oh Minato! How I and this village have failed you._

He then looked up to the ANBU, who was wearing a mask, but still the Hokage could tell that he was getting restless and was waiting for orders. After all he must be feeling that he is to blame since he could not save the boy or stop the villagers when they were beating him.

"Kakashi, " The Hokage began, "As you, and the whole village know that I passed the law 7 years ago that if anyone abused Naruto, they would be sentenced to death. But I suppose in the emotions of remembering their loved ones, they got out of control, and forgot the law. Now I know we cannot possibly sentence the whole village to such a fate, but we still have to set some examples so that this does not happen again. That is where you come in, you will point out the few people who hurt the boy most, and who were responsible for letting the crowd get out of their minds. In these cases, there are almost always trouble makers who set the people's emotions ablaze and everything goes to hell."

"Yes, Lord Hokage, as you wish", answered Kakashi accepting his new mission, "I was fortunate enough to see a few of these people, I can identify them and separate them for arrest. But the people will resist, and many ninja are also among them, it could lead to a fight. There could be a blood-bath".

"Yes, I am afraid so," replied the Hokage, "But we still have to do it, for the sake of the law, and even more for sake of the promise I made to Minato….We shall try to minimize the fighting. Gather the other ANBU Kakashi; we're going to need them."

"Lord Hokage, may I suggest," began Kakashi, he knew it would take too long to call for the ANBU in such a short time, so he had a better idea, "Let me just call on a few of the strongest I know. I am sure we'll be able to control it with just us and you leading us."

The Hokage got curious, and sensing his curiosity, Kakashi listed the names of the one's he was going to call, and he spoke out the names to the Hokage.

"Very well, Kakashi, I shall trust your judgment on this," said the Hokage, getting up from his chair and getting ready to move out, while doing so, he took out a small vial from his table, and handed it to Kakashi, "Here, take this elixir, It will restore your chakra and stamina. It is an extremely rare medicine and can be regarded as one of the treasures of the ninja world, it takes a decade to distill only this much. I was saving it for an extremely dire situation and I am certain that this emergency qualifies. But remember Kakashi, there's no such thing as free power. Once the elixir's effect's wear off, you'll be in for a lot of pain and exhaustion. So decide carefully if you wish to take it or not."

Kakashi took it and drank it whole without hesitation. Now he could head out without worrying about his chakra or stamina. He was going to do everything it would take to bring justice to the boy by controlling the village and then saving the child his sensei-Minato had entrusted to the village. He wasn't going to disappoint his sensei again, not after all the people he had let down during the war. _Obito….Rin….._He closed his eyes and sighed, then opened them again, lit with determination, _Minato-sensei, I promise. _He solemnly said to himself, as both he and the Hokage headed out.

* * *

The Villagers felt proud for what they had done. In their minds, they had driven away a demon from their village, they had kept their procession safe from defilement, and they had kept their families' honor. It did not matter to them if the demon was a small child who looked innocent, who pleaded them not to hurt him, who just wanted to celebrate his birthday. To them it was a great achievement to drive away a demon which attempted to defile their procession by saying such things. If there was any small regret in their hearts, it was just that they could not manage to hurt him more, or even kill him. But no matter; they would do it if they ever saw the demon again. Yes, that would bring their families peace for sure.

The procession continued again, it was supposed to begin from the place of Kyuubi's attack on the east of the village and was to end at the graveyard at the west side. The villagers had made their way through half of their course when someone shouted and they all looked up; there on top of a building, stood Sandaime Hokage wearing the red robes all the people revered and admired so much, along with him were four ANBU; two on each of the Hokage's side. For a few moments the villagers were surprised as to why the Hokage had come, he'd never attended any of these processions before, even though he too had lost his wife in the Kyuubi's attack. But then they thought that maybe he'd finally come to join them, having thought that it's high time he did. However, both these thoughts were wrong. For the Hokage was here for a totally different reason.

"Residents of The Leaf Village," Began the Hokage, "for a long time, ever since the village's very foundations were laid; we have upholded the supreme virtues of fraternity and love amongst our people. We have always stood by each other in times of need, we have shared laughs together, and we have shed tears together. That is the will of fire that burns inside of each one of us, and that is who we are as the leaves of this village…."

_What was this that he was saying?_ The villagers all admired his speech, but they had no idea what he was speaking about. Maybe he was praising them how they were all walking together to honor their lost loved ones .

The Hokage continued, "…..But today, I am ashamed. I am ashamed to be a leaf of this village, I am ashamed to be a ninja of this village, and I am ashamed to be Hokage of this village!"

The villagers were all shocked. _Why was the Hokage saying such things? Have we done something wrong? Have we displeased the leader we all love and respect so much?_ These were the thoughts going through their minds. How pathetic they were to not even know how wrong they had been and what wrong they had done just a little while before.

"Lord Hokage! What is the matter?" inquired one of the villagers.

"Have we done something against your will? Or anything against the will of fire?" Asked another one.

The Hokage answered, "These inquiries of yours, they hurt me even more, for you do not even know what wrong you have done. Are you so far gone that you do not even know the difference? Well let me tell you". He jumped down from the roof and landed in front of them, the four ANBU wearing masks followed suit. "You have hurt a child! The very child whose birth saved your lives! The child of a great hero! And you all felt proud doing it. Is this your will of fire? Is this what you have been taught as the leaves of this village!?"

Understanding that he was referring to the child they had all chased away, they all went into bewilderment at what the Hokage was saying. Ofcourse they had done the right thing by hurting the kid; he was a demon, he had killed their families, and he would do it again if that power was let out. So they all said, "But Lord Hokage, he holds the demon fox inside him, he killed our families, he destroyed our village, he hurt us so much, and now he came to desecrate our procession by saying things like he wanted presents for his birthday!? Why should we not hurt him as well? We have done right!"

"I passed the law," replied the Hokage to them, "To never hurt the boy; he is a hero, and I have tried time and time again to make you people understand why that is. His father entrusted him to us, to care for him, to treat him as hero. He gave his life, Yondaime did not think twice about his own life! All he wanted was for you people to be safe, and all he asked was for you people to respect his child! But you have not only failed him, but all that you have been taught about our faith and virtues as well.  
"It is time for judgment, since you all knew the law, and still chose to disobey it. The ones among you who were responsible for getting the crowd out of control, who incited others to beat the child up and chase him away; they will be arrested and sentenced to death!", finished the Hokage, laying down the law for them all.

They all were astonished to hear what he had just declared, and the ones among them who had started the stoning of the boy and who had given the speeches to set their emotions ablaze were the most worried. But since they all still believed how right they had been to do what they did, they decided to disobey the Hokage. The ninjas among them came forward to fight.

"If this is your answer, then so be it, but I shall uphold the law," sighed the Hokage, "My ANBU, arrest the ones who were most responsible."

Before the four ANBU stepped forward to carry out the Hokage's order, the ninja among the villagers all leapt at them shouting their own signature jutsu. They knew fighting the Hokage and his best will not be easy, but they will do it. They were so blinded by their emotions that they could no longer see what was right or wrong.

Their jutsus mostly hit the four ANBU, some even hit the Hokage, and they all fell screaming in pain. The ninjas of the village all roared declaring their victory. They were amazed but happy none the less at how easy it was to take down the Hokage and his best. They thought it must be because they were on the right side of the argument and what they did was justified after all.

The roars of victory soon died down as someone yelled to look up to building that the Hokage and his ANBU were standing on when they first arrived.

"How simple you people are," said a female voice; it was Kurenai of the four ANBU, "You all are already under my genjutsu. We never went down from this building. I cast it right away when we arrived, and now you're all surrounded."

_Surrounded? Never came down? All of us under the genjutsu of one ninja? How was all of this even possible? It would require a tremendous amount of skill, stamina and chakra to perform something of that feat._ These were the thoughts of the villagers and the ninja among them as the revelation was made to them.

Someone shouted again, and pointed to the centre of the crowd of people. Another ANBU was standing there, in a special taijutsu stance no one had ever seen before. "That's a taijutsu stance, " said a ninja, "and a very advanced one, it doesn't even belong to the village, that ANBU must have learned it from some other country, and the only one who could learn a taijutsu so advanced is…."

His words were left hanging as the ANBU unleashed his taijutsu, "**Secret Art: Open 4 Chakra Gates**," shouted the ANBU in the stance; it was Gai. An aura of energy surrounded him and his skin became red, "**Art of the Dragon: Ultimate Whirlwind**!" With speed that no one could follow, he ran around the crowd so fast that a huge tornado like whirlwind was produced, the ninja and the villagers were all thrown up into the air. Gai followed by jumping after them, and using the abundant supply of bandages he had brought with him, he tied the people up in groups of four and five before they fell down. And in this way, Gai incapacitated a few thousand of the villagers without seriously hurting anyone, but still a lot were left standing facing the Hokage.

The Villagers were bewildered at the feat they had just witnessed, they did not even have time to realize that another of the Hokage's ANBU had already invaded their ranks. This time the ANBU was wearing special knuckles on his fists that ended in short sharp blades. One of the ninjas among the villagers recognized him, the only one who wore such knuckles was none other than the Hokage's own son….Asuma Sarutobi. The villagers knew of his quarrels with his father but then again, it was not the Hokage he'd come for, it was for Kakashi.

Asuma first made a few clones to confuse the opposing ninja. With a large crowd of people, his clones will be a good distraction. As they went from clone to clone; throwing their punches, weapons and jutsus that were going right through the clones and dissipating them, Asuma got just enough time to lay down his trap. It was large enough to suppress a few more thousands of people of the village.

"I will not let any one of you harm the future Kings of this village", shouted Asuma at the huge crowd of people who clearly did not understand what he meant, as he made some hand seals, "**Combination Art; Fire Style: Flame Boundary!"** A small wall of fireappeared and surrounded the villagers, and then Asuma made some new hand seals, "**Wind Style: Gale!"** A gale appeared and added fuel to fire as it became larger, like a great fortress boundary around the villagers, now even the ninja among them couldn't escape as it was too high to jump over. Finally he made a last string of hand seals, and placing his hands on the burning fire, he muttered, "**Seal!" **The huge fiery boundary became still as the villagers became trapped in an extremely hot, now solid wall of fire. It was the only sealing jutsu he knew and it took much out of him since it was a combination art and required both wind and fire jutsus followed by a seal. He sat down to rest. But there were still most of the villagers left to defy the Hokage.

As this final crowd of people began to move towards the Hokage, the ninja leapt again at their leader to attack him. But their leaps were cut short as they leapt right into a wall of mud that appeared out of nowhere. The ninja got back to their fear as the wall broke down revealing a new ANBU standing between them and the Hokage.

"That hair!" said one of the ninja, "There's only one person in the whole village that has that hair, and he's one of the few hand full of people who can use three elements at once! its…..its…"

_Why would he be standing against us too? His sensei was killed by that demon fox! Why isn't he on our side!? _But more than being shocked at why this ANBU was not with them, the villagers were more worried about having him as an enemy, for he was one of the strongest ANBU that had ever lived.

"Kakashi!", said an infuriated ninja, "Why are you against us!? You lost your sensei, our beloved fourth Hokage to the demon boy!"

"My sensei", replied Kakashi, "would never want that his students would go hurting a little boy, and that boy is NOT a demon; he is my sensei's son, and he will be my student when he comes to the path of the ninja and I will make him one of the strongest there ever will be. I will not let anyone hurt the boy anymore!"he finished as he took off his mask to reveal his activated sharingan.

Kakashi's words and his enraged eyes were forceful enough, the people lost most of their fighting will to the sharingan's visual prowess. They surrendered to him without ever lifting a finger. So it became easier for Kakashi and the other three to separate the villagers who started the whole trouble. There were 13 in total, all belonging to different families. Their hands were bound by chakra-cuffs and they were brought before the Hokage.

"Your sentence shall be death by hanging!" He declared to them and then to everyone else he said, "Let this be a lesson to you all. No one and I mean no one at all is allowed to disrupt the peace or disobey the law. And most of all, no one is allowed to hurt the child Naruto, who is the legacy of the fourth Hokage!"

The Hokage ordered the ANBU to bring the culprits to the gallows in a few hours. In the mean time they will be allowed to say final goodbyes to their families.

* * *

It was now just over afternoon, the sun towering right over the Leaf Village and its surrounding landscape, Its rays shimmering down like gold dust between the tree branches loaded with leaves. The birds were flying over in all directions carrying messages to their respective recipients as was the trend of communication in the ninja world. The small wild animals in the vicinity of village's forest were about, some were playing with their families while some were just enjoying the sunny day.

Though all of them, these animals and birds and even the forest trees did notice something out of the ordinary—A young boy who had blonde spiky hair and was wearing what seemed like brand new orange clothes was running at the top of his speed in direction completely opposite to the village. This boy had expressions that the animals themselves have had when humans bothered and hunted them, and even though the animals were inferior life forms than humans, they somehow knew exactly what the boy must have been feeling-The Fear of man.

This boy was Naruto, a little boy of mere 7, who had been horrifically abused, beaten and chased out of his village just a couple of hours ago by the villagers, and all on the day of the most special of event of his life- to which he was so happily looking forward to. _Who does such an act of cruelty? Who abuses such a tender and young life when it's just trying to be happy?_

The Answer was simple…..It was man, and this was not even mankind's most cruel act for they can be far more animalistic than the animals themselves could ever be.

_Must keep on running! Don't look back! Don't even stop for breath! Don't! Don't! Don't! Just keep running!_

These were the only thoughts going through the little boy's mind as he was running away from the village. He was still bleeding from his head, he was still shedding tears from his eyes, and now to top it off he was also out of breath and his muscles were aching from running. He had been running for at least 2 hours now—All without stopping. His eyes were now blinded by the tears and blood, so he could not even see where he was running. He ran into a tree head first and fell down, holding his head in excruciating pain. It was already bleeding, and now the tree had made it worse.

"Damn! Damn! Damn! I hate it! I hate it all! I wanna die!" He said, as he laid there, closed his eyes and kept crying.

A shadow approached, and knelt before him. He sensed there was someone there and he opened his eyes to look up. His eyes widened with fright upon seeing who it was; a boy in his late teens was kneeling over him. He was wearing an ANBU uniform, there was a katana hanging on his back and there was the symbol of a fan on his left sleeve. He was a famous person all around the village. The prodigy of the famed and strong Uchiha;

"Uchiha….Itachi!" muttered Naruto weakly. He began to shake, fear taking over him again. _Why is he here? Did the villagers send him? Is he here to kill me!? _Naruto's thoughts were all messed up. He did not have the strength to get up even, let alone run away. So he just cuddled up and tried to protect himself with his arms for whatever the Uchiha prodigy was going to do him.

Itachi clenched his hand into a fist and moved it towards Naruto…..The boy was still shaking from fear. _What's going to happen to me? Will it hurt to die? _

To be Continued….


	3. Chapter 3

Im sorry this chapter took so long, I had some tests and university life is really busy. But I'm glad I got around to it and finally managed to finish my first story ever. So here you go everyone. Hope you all like it.

Chapter 3:

The Sun was high above the forest, its golden rays shining down on the trees and their inhabitants. The animals were all going about their daily routines; the herbivores like deer and antelopes going around looking for shrubs and sweet patches of grass, the insects looking for flowers for nectar, the small carnivores running after even smaller preys like rabbits which hid as soon as the hunters came near, the birds soaring above looking for spots to make nests or just taking in the breeze at that height. All in all it was just another normal day for the animals of the forest surrounding Konoha.

It was normal for all but one; one new child that had just escaped here from the village and had not realized how far he had run into it. He'd just crashed into a tree and fell down, probably not being able to see clearly enough with all that tear water and blood running down his face. Now he was lying on the ground and crying with pain, and someone was approaching him. He recognized the person as he came near, even through his dirty face, as he was quite famous. This person; wearing the Uchiha symbol, ANBU uniform, a katana on his back, activated Sharingan and two natural scars under his eyes, was none other than Uchiha Itachi, the prodigy of the Uchiha Clan.

Naruto's eyes were filled with fear as he came closer, knelt before him and reached out towards his head with a fist. All the events of the day had instilled so much fear in the poor seven year old that anything and everything approaching would be fearful, and this was one of the genius ninja of the village; trained in the art of inflicting utmost pain on his targets, probably sent by the villagers to hurt him more, or even kill him. He was in so much fear that his eyes forgot to shed tears.

The Uchiha's fist was slowly getting closer, Naruto's mind was getting dizzier, he could not move away. His body, limbs, jaws, even his eyes were starting to shake from the fear. Knowing he could not do anything, he just closed his eyes and waited for the worst. Why was it all turning out like this? All he had ever wanted were a few presents, like all kids do…..

Itachi's fist was now upon the boy, and Naruto's eyes began to flow with tears again, fearing the incoming pain…..but it never came. Instead he felt something soft on his forehead, and as he slowly opened his eyes, he saw that Itachi was gently touching it with two of his first fingers, rest of the hand still in fist form. Moreover, he thought he was—no he definitely was seeing the Uchiha sending down a gentle smile at him. It was the first gesture of kindness from anyone in what seemed to be a really long time, and the older boy transmitted in such a refined manner that all the fear left from the younger one's mind and body, and was replaced by amazement and surprise.

Naruto also felt something flowing into him through his forehead; was it tranquility? Peace? Calmness? He could not quite pinpoint but it definitely felt nice to him. Presently he also started to feel extremely weak, tired and drowsy; perhaps all the events of the day had taken their toll on his young mind and body, and now finally feeling a bit at ease, the body finally let out all that pent up exhaustion. So his body shivered a bit, his eyes closed slowly and he passed out on the ground.

XxxxxxxxxxxX

Naruto woke up after perhaps an hour or two, the sun was still sending light and heat waves through the tree branches and leaves and he could faintly hear sounds of animals nearby. But what took him a few moments to realize was that he was actually lying on someone's lap. It felt sturdy and strong as something strengthened by training and battle experience but at the same time also so soft and welcoming. He focused his eyes to see the same Uchiha from before he passed out, still sending a loving smile down at him. Had he been sleeping on his lap all this time? Was he keeping him safe? These thoughts, and all the answers that Itachi's smile gave him made his heart happy for some reason. There was something about this teenager, and he thought that if there was anything like family or more precisely a big brother, it would be like this; warm and soft and so filled with love….and a smile came across his own face.

"Are you alright, Naruto-kun?" asked Itachi in a soft voice.  
"Uh…uhm….." Naruto stumbled to find the words; he did not really know how he was now, so he focused his attention towards his body. Still lying on Itachi's lap, he checked where the rocks and stones had hit him and to his surprise the bleeding had stopped and there were small first aid bandages there. What's more was that the intense pain had gone as well. It was replaced by only mild sores, cramps and fatigue, as if he'd just been through some exercise, and not through a terrible ordeal. He also noticed that his face was clean now, though the bloodstains were still present on his clothes, so he replied finally, "Yea".

Naruto sat up from Itachi's lap to take in his surroundings; he was in some deep part of the forest. He had not really realized where he was going because of the fear and pain before. So he asked, "Where are we?"  
"We are in the forest that hides Konoha", answered Itachi," though we're a bit far from the village itself."

The word 'village' clicked something in Naruto's mind, and he quickly began turning his head here and there to look for any signs of any aggressors that were chasing him before. Itachi sensed his tension, and to calm him down, he said, "Don't worry Naruto-kun, you're quite safe here."  
"I was being hurt by so many bad people from the village; they were all calling me bad names and saying I didn't belong there", said Naruto in a succession of quick words, "I was so afraid; I had no choice except to run away. And they were chasing me, so I kept running and running. I didn't know how far I'd run till I slammed into a tree and fell, that's when I saw you….You- you aren't going to hurt me are you? The villagers didn't send you did they?"  
Itachi gave a small chuckle at his innocent and blunt question, "Me? Oh no, I'm here on a mission, an important one at that" he replied, 'though I do know what happened back at the village, and like I said, you're quite safe here, no one will harm-"  
"A mission!?" exclaimed Naruto sounding all excited and completely ignoring Itachi's second half of reply. He had always admired ninjas and their work in the form of missions; he always thought they would be awesome adventures with fights and becoming the hero.  
Itachi chuckled again at his naivety; at how quickly he forgot all his ordeals of the day just by the mention of a single word. So he offered, "Would you like to come with me Naruto-kun?"  
"Yea!", Naruto replied, jumping with joy and getting to his feet and pointing in a random direction he said, "Let's go! Onward!"  
" Naruto-kun, it's the other way" said Itachi, getting up and trying not to lessen the boy's excitement.  
"R-right, I knew that!", said Naruto sheepishly.

Itachi started to walk deeper into the forest away from Konoha, and Naruto followed close behind him.

XxxxxxxxxX

Itachi's mission was not really an official mission. It was something he had assigned himself to do. And he had been doing it for a couple of years now. He had only mentioned the word 'mission' to Naruto because he intended to make him curious and had always intended to bring the boy with him since he had started this. But he just could never find the time or opportunity to make the boy's acquaintance or to somehow get him to come with him. But now, with the circumstances, things seemed to have fallen into place. Perhaps this was also somehow fated to happen, because what he wanted to show the boy would have a deep impact on everything; the boy and the village, maybe even the whole ninja world, but most importantly it would have an impact on Itachi himself.

After a bit of walking, Itachi jumped onto a tree branch, and motioned Naruto to silently do as well. Naruto followed the teen's command, though not so silently, but the little noise he made had no consequence.

"Look down there Naruto-kun," said Itachi, pointing in the direction they had been walking. There, beyond a few trees, was a clearing and in that clearing were a few small houses made out of wood. They were poorly built, as if without the proper tools. They also looked unmaintained, perhaps because they weren't looked after or maybe because they just couldn't be looked after at all. There were small animal carts among a few houses, accompanied by a few mules and horses to haul them, and some domestic dogs and cats roaming about as well. There were also small vegetable patches behind some of the houses, and other houses held small signs saying 'Trade Supplies', 'Medicinal Herbs', 'Leather Goods', 'Clothes'.

Finally Naruto saw the people of the town; they were coming out of their houses, probably having finished their afternoon meal since it was that time of the day (the thought made Naruto's stomach growl, but he ignored that the best he could). The people were simply clothed, and there were many tears and tatters on them, which had been patched up by poor sewing skills. Even the person Naruto saw best dressed had atleast three or four patches. _Maybe these people were very poor and their small settlement gets attacked a lot by raiders, that's why Itachi must be here; to protect them and fight the raiders. Well this time I'll help too, and then everyone will know that I'm a good boy. _He thought, and smiled. But then another thought came to him and he asked Itachi, "How come these people don't live in the village? It's quite big and there's lots of space for a few people, and they could be safe from any raiders."  
"Very perceptive Naruto," said Itachi, impressed since he had not expected Naruto to point that out. For this was the whole reason they were here, and he continued, "You see there's a story behind this small settlement; they are actually from Konoha."  
Naruto's eyes widened with surprise and he said," If they're from the village, why are they settled here, so far away?"  
"The villagers kicked them out a few years ago," replied Itachi," They believed that these people committed a great crime against the village."  
"What do you mean?" asked Naruto, confused.  
"I'll tell you, but as you hear this little story, you must not ask questions and you must also keep an eye on what the people are doing down there alright. And you must tell me what you think of them when the story finishes."  
"Alright Itachi-nii san," promised Naruto, and something caused the insides of Itachi to feel happy at the mention of 'nii san', as he was reminded of someone back home. But, of course, he did not show it.  
"It was four years ago, there was a boy in the orphanage at the village. He was maybe two or three years old then. Like all the other kids at the orphanage, he had no relatives, and all he had was the other kids and the caretakers of the facility. The boy used to play with other kids around him and they spent their days happily growing up. They had no worries in the world…."

Naruto was listening carefully, and at the same time he was also looking at the people; he saw a couple sitting together infront of their small hut like home drinking tea and smiling about something.

"…..But there was a secret about the boy. Though, none of the kids knew so it didn't matter. But among the caretakers, the secret was common knowledge. But they dared not speak of it due to some rules. However, there was one among the staff of caretakers who had great malice and hatred in his heart. And he wanted to hurt the boy very badly. But of course he knew that if he tried anything alone, there would be heavy consequences for him, so after a long time of reflecting, conceiving and convincing a few people of the village who shared his intentions, he came up with a plan…"

Naruto saw a young girl down by another small home; she was scurrying above and below a few pieces of logs lying around, carrying a young puppy with her. She seemed to be enjoying her little game, and the pup's small barks of joy made it all the merrier for both of them.

"…..One night the man in the staff woke up the boy after everyone had gone to bed. He bribed him with sweets and ramen, which was the boy's favorite food, and asked him to come outside. The boy was innocent enough and he had never had any reason to distrust the adult, so he took the edibles and followed him outside. The man took him outside in the darkness, outside the courtyard of the orphanage and into the village street. The boy was now starting to feel a little scared so he tugged on the man's clothes and asked him to take him back. But he never answered….."

Naruto saw a group of three children playing a game, they jumped around each other one by one and whoever was jumping tried to hit another child's foot. And each time they hit or missed they seemed to enjoy it and laughed out loud at the strange postures they made while jumping.

"….The man pointed the boy to look in the opposite direction of the street; the boy did so and amidst the darkness, slightly made out some figures coming towards them. But before anything else, the man hit the boy hard on the head and knocked him out. Presently, the figures approached them and nodded to each other. They lifted the boy and started to carry him to a corner of the village. They had every intention to hurt the boy; they would beat him, kill him and then throw him away outside the wall so no one would know….."

Naruto's heart was beating fast; this story was making him uneasy. A lot of hurt had happened to himself just a few hours ago. But nevertheless he kept listening without saying a word and kept noticing the people; he saw an old woman carrying some sticks over her head towards her home, but she dropped them and tried to kneel down to pick them up, but her age and strength would not let her. Just then a young man came running, picked up the sticks for her, and even lent her a hand to help walk her to her home. She thanked him, gave him a pat on the head and he smiled.

"…...As they were carrying the boy, another group of people intercepted them. One of the new comers asked to hand the boy over without harm so he could take him back to the orphanage. The first group of people recognized these new comers and they were the people who lived with them as their neighbors, and friends and co workers. Maybe they had heard about their plan about the boy and, being the goody goody people they were, decided to stop them. The first group warned them that they had every right to hurt the boy since they believed that the secret about the boy was harmful to everyone, and if they tried to stop them, there would be heavy consequences for them. But the new group of people still sided with the boy. There was a small quarrel among them, but the new group managed to take the boy and bring him back…One of them also reported to the Hokage about what had happened, who ordered the caretaker man be removed from his job and his fellows from theirs…."

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief now that the child was safe; no matter what it is, you cannot hurt an innocent person. Naruto believed that firmly. Presently he saw two friends cutting a tree, they stopped whenever they got tired and shared a few jokes and laughed.

"…But the story isn't over, for you see, the next day the caretaker from the orphanage and his fellows gathered more people and surrounded the houses of those that had caught them, they ransacked their houses, rounded up their families and kicked them out of the village. All the time saying that 'they were not their friends',' they were as bad as the child', 'they wanted to hurt the village' and 'they were never to return'. The Hokage probably did not intervene because he did not want bloodshed and his finest ninja were all away, and the boy was safe anyway, which was the Hokage's greatest concern. And so you have it, Naruto-kun; while saving an innocent soul that was disliked by the village, these people were kicked out and they've settled here. They make their small livings by few trades they've set up for the travelers and passer-bys. Now tell me Naruto-kun, what have you noticed about the people?"

Naruto's small feeling of relief was again replaced by sadness and anguish as he thought that what happened just was not fair, it was cruel. Why did it happen that way? He wondered who the child was and where was he himself when he was that young? But much of his early childhood memories were unclear to him, probably because he was too young to remember. However, he still said or asked nothing about the story, instead he described all he had seen the people doing while Itachi was narrating the story.

"And what do you think about all this?" asked Itachi to a sad and confused looking Naruto.  
"I don't know," replied Naruto, "I mean, they've been kicked out of their home for doing the right thing. And now they're living poor lives here, but somehow they don't seem depressed or sad. If anything, they seem to be happy in living together and making the best of it. But it's all very strange to me. How can they be happy having lost their home? How are they able to make the best of it? Why aren't they trying to go back? Do they ever regret doing the right thing?"

Itachi could not have said it better himself. He wanted someone to point out all these things to him, and though the boy seemed stupid, he was quite perceptive. Although Itachi had already noticed all these points about these people, but he wanted someone else to confirm them for him. And who better to point all these out than the boy who the story was about. For someday, he might need to leave his village too, with the events shaping back there as they were, and then he'd have to live without a home as well. So that's why he came here occasionally to look at these people and how they adapted to living without their home.

"Perhaps," finally answered Itachi to all of Naruto's questions, "that's what makes humans unique. They can adapt to the changes. As for whether they regret it or not, only they can answer that."  
"So, can we go down there?" inquired Naruto in response to Itachi's statement, since he'd thought they were supposed to stay away from them though he wanted to go down there.  
"Yes, we should."

Naruto's face lit up with joy, he had wanted to ask them all kinds of things; about the story, about them living here, if they wanted to go back, if they regretted their decisions or not. And although they were people of the same village he had just ran away from, there was a really different aura about them, they seemed kind and Naruto knew they would never hurt them.

Both Itachi and Naruto went down to the people, and they recognized him from so many years ago, but they never said anything. Naruto was the one who did most of the chatting while Itachi watched and took everything they said to heart. Naruto asked them everything, and they answered courteously, just keeping the parts that were secret by law which they still upheld and honored.

"Do you ever wish you could go back?" asked Naruto.  
"We sure do," answered a female who had been drinking tea with her husband before, "It's our home and what wouldn't we give just to go back. But we don't think they'd let us back. They think we're some sort of traitors."  
"Then do you regret helping the boy?"  
"Never," this time an elderly man answered, "We've never once thought what we did was wrong, we'd do it again if a similar situation came even if it brought us a thousand exiles. It was the right thing to do, and it was what our last great leader would have wanted. For the will of fire and all our ancestral teachings have taught us this _'Make a decision and stand by it, do not go back on your word, for that is the true way of the leaf and of the ninja'_, and though we might not be ninja, but we're people of the leaf and we honor our teachings. This is what we teach our children as well."

Naruto felt the words like the most enlightening revelation ever made to him. He could hear the words over and over again in his mind, engraved in his heart. Of course he and other kids of the village had been taught the values in school, but no one ever seemed to understand them. This was the first time he had actually seen what it all meant. Yes, this was the true meaning of being a ninja, of being a leaf, of being what he had always wanted to be. And this was also going to be his way. Nothing would be more perfect for him.

"Its going to be my way too," promised Naruto more to himself than the people, "And I make you guys a promise. I will bring you back home. And I will not go back on my word, no matter what, believe it!"

The people all smiled, they knew he was just a kid, but they all knew he was special. If anyone could do with this ninja way and promises like these, it was him.

Naruto took a little time to play with the kids before going to talk to Itachi and asking him to come with him back to the village. There was determination in his eyes, and he wasn't about to look back. Itachi agreed to him, and both of them said farewell to the people of the settlement.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxX

It was now time of dusk, the sun was slowly setting, sending last of its orange beams down to Konoha and its surrounding forest. Naruto and Itachi and entered through the main gate, and found no one in their sights.

"Where is everyone?" asked Naruto, feeling a bit relieved that there were no cruel people around.  
"I can hear sounds of a gathering towards the gallows," answered Itachi, using his superior ninja senses, "It would be best to check there."  
"Gallows!? Why there?" but Itachi did not answer, for he himself did not really know.

The pair made their way towards the direction Itachi had pointed out, and surely enough the sounds became clearer as they slowly came across a huge gather of people. They were all standing in front of wooden gallows. On top of the gallows, stood a few people with black bags on their heads and ropes hanging down from above them. On the side, stood the old man Sandaime Hokage, with three ANBU at his back that Naruto did not recognize. They crowd of people looked disturbed and there was tensed chatter among them. They had looks of pure anger and sorrow as if their right had been taken away without just cause.

"People of Konoha," boomed Sandaime's voice and all the people became attentive, "The designated time has arrived. These people are charged with disobeying one of the most important laws of our village and hurting an innocent child. They incited a whole mob to commit the same crime. As sentenced, they have been given ample time to say farewell and now shall be executed."

Naruto's eyes widened; he knew the child Hokage spoke of was him. These people were being executed because of him. A strange feeling arose in his heart. He half felt happy that evil people were being given due punishment, but his other half felt the words of the people had met outside. What should he do in this situation? Thoughts of friends, family, colleagues came to his mind, these people must have the relations too. Would they all be sad if they were gone? Is that why the crowd was tense? But then again they had hurt him so bad for no reason, did anyone feel sorrow when he had left? Of course not. But still he should do something. Or maybe he should just watch and let it happen?

Naruto was in the greatest bind he had ever been. His heart was totally divided. He looked to Itachi, but he did not say anything; this was Naruto's decision to make and Naruto had no idea how anything would affect the people or the future. But his thinking was cut short when suddenly a voice from the crowd came.

"Look!" said a young man, "It's the boy!"

And everyone turned to look at Naruto. It indeed was him and they all sent him angry and hateful glares. But no one dared to do anything. For one he had one of the strongest ninja on his side who seemed to be protecting him, secondly because the Hokage's law was absolute and no one wanted the same fate as the people up on the gallows.

Their glares and looks divided Naruto's heart and mind even more. He knew they all hated him for some reason and he should just leave them to their fate, but he also remembered the people from outside and the teachings of the leaf and will of fire. So finally, he decided.

"Itachi-nii san," Naruto addressed to him without turning now with resolve in his eyes," Would you please come with me?"

Itachi nodded and followed Naruto who started to walk towards the crowd. People started to pave a way for the two automatically, and Naruto kept on walking with fierce eyes not once looking at the people who kept sending him so much hate and scorn.

After cutting through the crowd, Naruto made his way up the gallows and by the Hokage's side. No one moved or said anything, not even the Hokage. They all waited for Naruto. Everyone knew he was about to do something.

"I am torn!" Naruto began, his voice reaching everyone clearly, "I don't know what to do or say. I'm just a kid who wanted to celebrate his birthday and get a few gifts. Every kid wants that, so what's so bad if I wanted it too? Is it so bad that it made everyone dislike me and beat me up? I really don't know why everyone hates me. But I know one thing; this is not the teachings of the will of fire. This is not our culture as the leaves of Konoha. I learned all that today and now I will be the one to uphold all that. These people that are being punished because of me, I know that they hurt me a lot, but still I forgive them. Ol man Hokage, please, let them go."

A wave of shock went through the entire village, even the Hokage and his best were astonished at what they had just witnessed. A mere seven year old boy had managed to understand the greatest teachings of their ways and even forgave the ones who caused the entire village to almost kill him just a few hours ago. They could not believe their eyes or ears, yet it was all still happening.

The Hokage nodded to Naruto and said, "Since the person against whom the crime was committed has chosen to forgive, the people shall be released. But know this, that the law stands absolute. Anyone who dares to break it shall be dealt with!"

The prisoners were released, they had heard it all even if their face bags could not allow them to see. They looked at Naruto and feelings of shame went through their faces. They got up slowly and went back to their families who all cried and hugged them as if they had met after thousands of years. But Naruto was not finished yet.

"Next," started Naruto again, "I want you all to repay this gesture of mine. There is a settlement of people outside the village; they were kicked out many years ago for doing the right thing. I want them to come back and live together with you as friends and family."

Another huge shocker for the people. How did he even know about them, or their story? A wave of chatter swept the people and there was noise here and there.

"I believe," said the Sandaime stepping up, "the people will agree." And no one said anything, they were too shocked and did not know how to respond. Though some of them did express delight that they would be able to see their friends again, and the Hokage, taking their silence as affirmation declared that the people would be allowed to come back. He sent one of the ANBU to quickly go and bring them back at once. But Naruto still was not finished.

"And finally," Naruto began to declare by raising a fist to everyone, "I know no one likes me, and I don't know why, but I will make everyone here respect and accept me. I will become the strongest ninja. And I will become the Hokage!"

Another huge wave swept the people; there were shouts of anger and hatred from most of the people while a few remained quiet. The Hokage, who was shaken by this declaration for a few moments at first, got a grip on himself and smiled accepting Naruto's resolve and declaration. He would have to put him through a lot of strictness and tough training to make him strong enough for this. But he knew he was his father's son. And the most special child this village had ever seen. If anyone could do this, it was him.

After some time the people from outside returned to the village, they met their friends happily who offered them to stay till their houses can be restored. The others accepted their return, even those who had kicked them out, grumpily, but accepted them nonetheless.

Naruto went up to Itachi and stood before him. Itachi knelt down to his level and gave him a pat on the head.

"You did well, Naruto-kun," he said to the young boy, praising him.  
"I couldn't have done it without you Itachi nii-san," said Naruto rubbing under his nose with his index finger.  
"Ah yes, about that….," said Itachi, and before Naruto could make sense of his words, or his actions, Itachi looked into his eyes and said, "SHARINGAN!"

Naruto rubbed his eyes, looked around and said,"Huh? Who was I talking to…..? Hmm….Oh well, better go, I've got a lot of hard work and training to do. I will become Hokage! And with my nindo, I'll be sure to do get there no matter what! My life begins now!" Saying this he sped off away from where he was standing, being happy that he gained the greatest gifts he could ever have gotten; a nindo, a resolve, a couple of friends and a goal in life. It truly was a great birthday and life was going to be awesome from now on for him.

XxxxxxxxxxxX

Itachi watched from a few streets away, as Naruto sped off. The elder from the outsiders came up to him and said, "You had planned this all along hadn't you?"  
"No." answered Itachi ,"I merely took him along with me to you because I thought that he might be able to help me. All the events that followed were his own will and understanding and maybe because of something greater. That boy truly is great; he helped me and ended up helping so many others."  
"That truly is. But why did you have him forget you?"

Itachi was surprised that the elder managed to discern what he did to Naruto, so he answered, "I'll tell you. But please, keep it secret."  
"I doubt I have much longer to live, don't worry, your secret will go with me to my grave"  
"I made him forget my involvement in today's events. This way he won't think that I had anything to do with his nindo. Moreover, soon my life will be changing, I need someone like him to take care of my little brother and that cannot happen if he thinks of me as some hero."

The elder did not really understand what he meant, but he was wise enough not to question him. And having made the promise, he kept it and never said a word of it to anyone.

XxxxxxxxxxX

Naruto woke up next morning to a knock on the door. Was it the old man Hokage with his usual visits? He thought he had brought him belated gifts for his birthday. Or maybe he had just come with the usual provisions for him. But he was totally wrong, there was someone else at the door, but Naruto could never have guessed since he never got anyone to visit him besides the old man. He went to the door and opened it, immediately his eyes widened with surprise; it was the guy who had caused the whole mob yesterday to go out of control by giving that emotional speech, and was later caught and was to be put to death right when Naruto came and spared him and the others.

"Er-umm-err….I'm so sorry Naruto-kun!" the man said bowing his head to the boy, behind him was his family; a wife and three kids, one of whom was just an infant cradled in his mother's arms, "I did you so wrong, and you spared my life. I am so sorry. Please, I know it was your birthday yesterday, and we spent the whole time looking for presents for you, so here you go. You gave me a second chance to be with my family again. This is the least we could do. "

He handed a few boxes to Naruto all wrapped in gift paper and ribbons. He received them and any doubts remaining in his mind about his nindo were instantly cleared; this really was the right way for him and what he did was the good choice. Naruto thanked them and put the presents in his room. But he thought of opening them when he came back from his daily training. The academy for ninja students would be starting soon and he needed to make himself as strong as he could in preparation for the start of his formal ninja life. So he got in gear, put on his goggles, went out on top of the roof his apartment and shouted to the world,

"I AM NARUTO UZUMAKI! AND I SHALL BE THE GREATEST NINJA AND HOKAGE THERE EVER WAS!"

XxxxxxxxxxxxX


End file.
